SEO: Engineering User Experience

SEO has become a buzzword.

As markets become more crowded and competition gets more fierce, it’s critical that brands can be found. But, as we discussed recently in an article about Amazon content, the customer experience and journey are more important than ever, and brands must have a strong brand story, voice, and SEO strategy to be heard and seen. We see search optimization as an essential foundation to brand health, rather than a be-all-end-all marketing solution. This was made increasingly clear when a brand partner of ours was featured on one of the world’s most popular podcasts.

Host Defense is a unique brand that produces all-natural mushroom supplements and has an incredibly dedicated customer base. When Joe Rogan featured the brand’s founder, Paul Stamets, on a two-and-a-half-hour podcast, we saw unprecedented traffic on Host Defense’s product listings. Lion’s Mane, a specific product discussed on the podcast, saw a nearly 10,000% increase in Amazon traffic, and an almost 4,000% increase in product sales. Whoa.

How does SEO fit into all of this?

There were a handful of successes that happened behind the scenes. Shoppers who searched for Host Defense after listening to the podcast were able to find the brand easily, without having to scroll through pages of somewhat-related products. Categorically, Host Defense products were well-positioned to benefit from the sudden increase in search traffic. When searching for “Host Defense,” shoppers weren’t bombarded with advertisements from competing brands. At the same time, typing “mushroom supplements,” “immune response,” or “Paul Stamets” into the search bar showed Host Defense products within the first few results.

Having good SEO is like having good circulation. It doesn’t seem too important when you’re young, and certainly wouldn’t be the type of thing you’d ask about on a first date, but plays a vital role throughout one’s life. You can aid good circulation, or good SEO, by making basic, healthy choices. While it’s not a complete answer to brand success, SEO serves as the bedrock for product health in the world of e-commerce.